The Story Seeds Podcast

The View From The Top with Chris Grabenstein

Episode Summary

This week’s episode features Chris Grabenstein, author of the NYTimes best-selling "Mr. Lemoncello's Library" series, and his story seeds match Jasper. Jasper’s story idea is about a 74 foot tall detective (talk about being well equipped for extreme social distancing) and how he *ahem* turns lemons into lemonade by using his height to see things that others can’t. Join host Betsy Bird as she takes you to collaboration nation with Chris and Jasper, and unveils the brand new original story that Chris grew: “The World’s Biggest Detective.”

Episode Notes

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration follows the one and only Chris Grabenstein, author of the NYTimes best-selling Mr. Lemoncello's Library series, and creative rockstar Jasper! 

Chris Grabenstein helps Jasper grow this idea:

A story about a 74 foot tall mystery solver.

Follow this special Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as: 

The episode concludes with this week’s storytime segment (15:55) where Chris reads the story he grew from Jasper’s story seed: The World’s Biggest Detective.

Last but not least, this episode was recorded when Jasper was 12 years old. He is now 13, a proud teenager. 

Books mentioned in this episode: Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein. Tall Tales: Jack and the Beanstalk, Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind.  

Calls to Action

Bonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Chris Grabenstein. He talks about getting his start by writing for the school newspaper and shares tips on how to write a great mystery.

Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at storyseeds@literarysafari.com, or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club .

Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the  kid in you!). You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari

Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!

This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here

Show credits

Produced and written by Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani. Kayla Fedeson is our Associate Producer. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio recorded by Nathan Miller. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT. 

The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com